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Date: Fri, 18 Jun 2004 20:29:12 +0200
From: Patrick Useldinger <pu@vo.lu>
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Subject: any use to build from source?
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Hi all,

I must say that I was initially interested in the idea of building 
software from source - but I am kind of loosing it.

Certainly, it allows you to compile with the compiler options you want, 
you are able to optimize the binaries for your CPU, but: does it really 
matter? Are the speed improvements really visible?

Dependencies was another argument: you compile with the correct headers 
of dependant files, well... is that really so? If you upgraded the 
dependant binaries, wouldn't you get the same effect?

One certain drawback of compiling from source is the compilation time. 
Large packages like KDE or OpenOffice take ages, so you can't just 
"quickly" upgrade a whole system, or a large part of it. I might add 
that I am more the typical desktop user, not using my machines for real 
and specific server apps.

So, my question is basically: did you, in your experience, find that 
compiling from source *really* has any serious advantages that make up 
for the time it takes?

-PU